Hollow Fe3O4/Fe@C nanocubes for broadband microwave absorption spanning low- and high-frequency bands

Abstract

Rationally constructing hollow structures with heterogeneous interface is usually an effective strategy to regulate the electromagnetic response behavior for lightweight and strong absorption, but achieving low-frequency and broadband absorption is a major challenge. This work adopts a novel Fe(II)/Fe(III) ions regulation strategy to design and synthesize hollow Fe(OH)X (x = 2, 3) nanocubes, which addresses the disadvantages of time-consuming or using etchant. Subsequently, a unique hollow Fe3O4/Fe@C nanoboxes with adjustable magnetic composition and uniformly coated shell have been successfully synthesized by in-situ carbonization with the assistance of phenolic resin and hydrogen thermal reduction. Notably, the different magnetic components induce the magnetic coupling assembly and play a crucial role in determining its electromagnetic parameters, whereas Fe3O4 contributes to more dipole polarization and stronger low-frequency response characteristics. For Fe3O4@C hollow nanoboxes, the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) is as low as –119.9 dB at 2.3 mm, and extremely wide effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 11.4 GHz is achieved spanning low-frequency band of 2.8 ∼ 7.2 GHz and high-frequency band of 11.0 ∼ 18 GHz at 5.0 mm. Surprisingly, the Fe3O4@C also has satisfactory EAB20 (RL＜ –20 dB) reaching 7.1 GHz (14.9 ∼ 18 GHz) at a thin thickness of 1.8 mm. The RLmin of other hollow nanoboxes is also below –30 dB, and the EAB is greater than 9 GHz. This study provides a competitive candidate for efficient microwave absorption in complex frequency bands, especially low-frequency bands.